Monday, April 14, 2008

8 Spring Records for 2008

APRIL.

Bring out Springtime Super Moose!!

It’s a beautiful day in Toronto and we're expecting 20 degrees by the end of the week. I spent nearly an hour of my workday outside, pretending to show interest in a construction site for the sake of being in the sunshine. Freshly showered and medicated, I’ve been waiting impatiently for these days to return. The uncertain grey of February and March will likely breach April as well, but these first mild and sunny days remind us that less-confined days lie ahead.

No rush for summer, though. One of the better reasons this site is named Skeleton Crew Quarterly is because I’ve always been fascinated by how certain albums can represent seasonal characteristics. Although it isn’t too common, each year I find one or two albums that perfectly sum up a time of year; sometimes a record chameleons to suit the season of its release, but just as often I find a record that should’ve been saved for a different time of year. Take Bon Iver, for example; my friend Nora recently turned me onto his rustic debut but because I’m songwriter-ed out lately, I’ll save it for autumn when it might serve me better.

As this is SCQ’s first seasonal transition, I thought I’d celebrate the encroaching mild weather with eight albums that you might prefer to spend some time with (if, that is, you feel this Spring deserves a new record). Springtime Super Moose approves each one of them! Also, I've provided an example to kick off SCQ's new column - Off the Record. Now get outside and pray for some rain.